Stop motion for looms



Sept. 11, '1934. M. B. PENMAN El AL 1,973,653

STOP MOTION FOR L OMs Original Filed March '9. 1935 s Sheets-Sheet 1 and4 wdivysclzamm by ar'nzls6ug Fae-i Sept. 11, 1934.

' Original Filed March 9, 1933 M. B. PENMAN El AL STOP MOTION FOR LOOMS3 Sheets-Sheet 2 Sept. 11, 1934.

M. B. PENMAN El AL STOP MOTION FbR LOOMS Original Filed March 9, 1953 3Sheets-Sheet 3 PHNEL Anal Mov-

Patented Sept. 11, 1934 PATENT @FFEQE 1,973,653 sror MOTION roa LooMsdeceased,

Elconisburg, and Alfred late of Bloomsburg, Pa,

Company, executor, Harris- The Magce Carpet 00.,

Pa, a corporation of Pennsylvania @riginai application March 9, 1933,Serial No.

666,156a Divided and 1934, Serial No. 715,698

4 ()laims.

This invention reiates to stop motions for looms, and particularly loomsfor weaving carpets of the Axminster type, wherein, for each transversecourse 01 pile tufts included in a singie repeat of the pattern to bewoven into the fabric, a spool having a yarn wound thereon for each piletuft of the course represented. by the spool is provided; and whereineach spool is carried by a frame having a feed tube for each of the tuftyarns on the spool, each tube frame in turn being carried by a pair ofendless chains which pass through circuitous paths and convey the tubeframes successively to a predetermined position in the loom at which thenewly positioned tube frame is removed from the carrier chains by a pairor" grippers which are adapted to register with the opposite ends of theframe, the grippers being mounted at the outer endsof arms ar--' rangedto carry the frame to a position adjacent the warp in the loom or thefell of the fabric, for laying the tuft yarns of the spool inpredetermined positions in the open warp shed, in order that the tuftsmay be tied into the fabric by filling or weft threads inserted in theopen warp shed by a needle operable across the warp within the openshed, and to return the frame to its position on the carrier chains.

The present invention concerns the provision of means for detectingabnormal conditions arising during the weaving operations whichheretofore have been responsible for considerable damage being done tothe mechanisms of the loom and to the fabric and which are generallyknown to the trade as smashes.

The present invention further concerns the incorporation with thedetecting means above referred to of a system of signals, audible orvisible, or a combination of both, by which the weaver may readilydetermine the location in the loom of the prevailing abnormal condition.

The present invention further concerns the incorporation, with thedetecting mechanisms and the signalling system above referred to of anautomatic mechanism common to all of the above noted detectingmechanisms and operable by any single one thereof for stopping the loomimmediately upon detection of an abnormal condition, whereby theproduction of the above noted smashes is avoided.

The present application, a division of the parent application filed bythe applicants in the present case, on March 9, 1933 and bearing SerialNo. 660,166, particularly concerns the means for detecting improperregistration between the tube frame and the grippers which normallyremove this application March 15,

the frames from the carrier chains as and for the purpose above noted.

The construction and operation of the detecting, signalling andstop-et3ecting mechanisms, forming the subject matter of the presentappiication and the cooperation of this mechanism with the ordinaryelements of a loom of the type noted insofar as the present case isconcerned will be more fully disclosed hereinafter, reference being hadto the accompanying drawings, of which:

Fig. 11s a sectional elevation of SllfilClGIll) of a loom of the typenoted to show the mechanism for removing the tube frames from thecarrier chains and for handling the tube frames in laying the tuft yarnsin the open warp shed of the fabric;

Fig. 2 is a detail of a portion of the mechanism shown in Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a plan view of the tube frame handling mechanism shown in Fig.1, showing mechanism for detecting improper registration or" the framegrippers with the tube frame;

Fig. 4 is a sectional elevation taken on the line 4-4, Fig. 3, andshowing, in detail, the switch for detecting said improper registrationof the tube frame grippers with the tube frame located in the positionto be removed from the carrier chains; and

Fig; 5 is a wiring diagram showing the manner of connecting the severaldetector switches, the master switch, the clutch-releasing mechanism andthe signalling system with a source of electric energy.

The loom shown in the drawings for the purpose of illustrating theprinciples of the present invention is of the type generally known as aCrompton and Knowles Axn'iinster Loom and as shown in Fig. 1 comprisesthe usual main side frames 1, which are integrally connected by theusual transverse frame members 3;

Extending laterally from the right side main frame 1 is a lateralextension frame which supports the driving motor (not shown) whichrotat-es a main drive gear freely rotatable on a main drive shaft towhich is fixed a constantly rotating member of the main clutch, thesecond member of which is splined to the shaft and provides a readilyreleasable driving connection between the motor and the main driveshaft. The main drive shaft through suitable gearing drives the main camshaft 15 or" the loom. The main cam shaft 15 is rotatably mounted insuitable bearings on the main side frames 1 and the said lateralextension frame. The loom is provided with the usual till ten

breast beam 16 and oscillating lay 17 adjacent thereto.

Extending rearwardly from the main side frames '1 are supplemental sideframes or racks which provide the necessary support for the carrierchains to, 40 to which the tube frames 59, 50 are detachably secured.

The side chains 46, 40 are supported in and travel along an upperhorizontal runand'a series of short and long vertical runs which,together with the upper horizontal run, form the circuitous pathtraveled by carrier chains 40 and tube frames 50, whereby the said tubeYframesare conveyed successively to a position Alocated substantiallyabove the fell 1 of the fabric, at the rear edge of the extension 2'7 ofthe breast beam 16, see Fig. 1.

The carrier chains 40, 40 are advanced intermittently by the usual. pawland ratchet mechanism (not shown), which intermittently rotates ashaft52=a=t the lower end-of the front vertical run of the carrierchains, said shaft-52 being rotatably mountedin bearingscar-ried by atransversely extending arch beam '54: which is secured at its oppositeends to the main side frame 1.

The heddle frames are operated in the usual manner through a series oflevers actuated by cams on the main shaft 15, to form :open warpsheds-composed of the warp ends a.

Carried by each of the tube frames 50 is the usual tuft yarn spool 55,on'whichthetuft yarns are wound, said tuft passing from the spool '55 inthe usual manner through the feed tubes 550; carried by the tube frame50 and from which the free ends -w of the tuft yarns extend.

Asusual in this type of loom, each tube trame 50, as it is moved toposition A, indexes or registers with a pair of jaws or grippers 56which are disposed respectively at the opposite sides of the loom andwhich are'cam ied-on the outer ends of horizontally rockable 8.1211353,57 which are =rotatably mounted on vertical pivots 58, 58. The Verticalpivots 58-of the gripper arms 5'! are carried on the outer ends ofvertically rockable arms 59, 59 which form parts of 'a transverselyextending rocking frame 60. The rocking frame 6G is provided withtrunnions Si, 61 which are rotatably mounted in bearings carried by theside frame 1.

Each of the gripper'arms 5715 provided with an arm 62, said arms52,-"62being connected at their outer ends by links 63, 63 with a lever-64 which is pivoted to the rocking frame 69 and connected by a link'65, see Fig. 3, 'to one arm'of abell-cran'k lever 66. lhe bell-cranklever 66, see Fig. 2, is pivoted at 6 to a bracket secured ?to the mainframe of the loom. he second arm (of the bellcrank 66 :is connected by alink 68 to aileverrfi9 which is pivoted to the main frame of the loomand providedat its outer end with :a cam follower 70 in operativeengagement with a cam 71 secured to the main shaft 15 of the loom.

The rockingframe 60 is connected by a link 72 to the router .endof alever '73 which .is pivoted to the .main frame of the loom and providedwith .a cam follower 74 in operative engagement with .a cam'75 securedto the main shaft 150i the loom.

The gripper fjaws 56 are pivotally connected'to the arms 5'1 and 76 andto each of the gripper jaws 56 is attached one end of a link '77, theopposite end of which is pivotal-1y connected to a rocking lever "78which in turn is connected by means of "a link 79 to the outer end of alever 80 which is pivoted at 81 to the lever 73. Intermediate its ends,the lever 80 is provided with a cam follower 82 in operative engagementwith a cam 83 secured to the main shaft 15 of the loom. As the shaft 15rotates the cam 71 first rocks the gripper arms 57 about their pivots'58 to move the grippers inwardly in opposite directions into registrywith the opposite ends of the tube frame 50 at position A, where thesaid grippers register with the tube frame and at the same time releasethe frame from the carrier chains 40, in the usual manner, whereupon thecam '75 becomes effective and rocks the frame 60 about its pivots 61 tolower 'thegrippers 56 and the tube frame 60 held thereby from the fullline position, Fig. l, to the broken line position in said figure, thecam 83 at the same time becoming effective to rockfthegrippers 5'6andthe tube frame carried thereby about the pivots 76 whereby the project-.ingends w of the tuft yarns are laid in the open warp shed,substantially at the fell y of the fabric.

While in this position a, weft or filling thread -is passed through theopen warp shed in the usual manner'by-a filling needle which is insertedin the open warp shed by the usual rope drum actuated in the usualmanner from the main shaft of the loom. The lay 1-7 is then rocked inthe usual manner to beat the newly inserted filling thread and theengaged ends -w of the tuft yarns in the position at the fell 1/ of thefabric, after which the tufts formed by the said projecting ends mi ofthe tuft yarns are severed from the tulit yarns, adjacent the lower endsof the feed tubes a through which the tuft yarns extend, the severing ofthe tufts from the tuft yarns being accomplished in the usual manner by"the laterally reciprocating blade =87 and the co-opcrating 'laterailyoscillating blade 88 operated in the usual manner in timed relation withthe other elements or the loom.

The links and levers iust described are then rocked in reverse order toreturn the tube frame to its place on idle car-r ier "chains i0, 40 atthe station n.

The 'above general description and operation of ithe elements of "a loomof the type no'ted will suffice for a clear understanding of the utility"and eparation of the mechanism of the stop motion fornii-ng the subject"of "the present invention.

Qn'e cause for the expensive smashes, above referred to, is frequentlyattributed to a failure of the :gnippers to register properly with thetube frame in the registry position.

"The present invention concerns "the provision of a suitable detectorfor the condition above mentioned, which necessitates long periods ofidleness of the loom while making repairs.

The deteeting mechanism above noted is provided with a switch which isconnected in electr i'ccirouit with an automatic clutch release unit bywhich immediate stopping of the loom is effected upon detection of thecondition noted above. Also included in the electric circuit isa-s'ignal by which the weaver may readily determine the location of thetrouble or existence of the cunditi'on which caused the stopping of theloom, the electric circuit being under control of a master switch whichis actuated by, in the present instance, loom.

master switch 140, see'FigQ5, comprises a casing 141 which "is securedin fixed position to the frame of the'loom. Mounted within the oasing1'41 is a base plate composed of insulating the main clutch lever of theuse material. Secured to the base plate is a pair of bearings in whichis rotatably mounted, in the present instance, a round metallic bar orshaft 144 which forms the main rotatable contact of the master switch.Between the bearings one side of the bar 144 is cut away to provide aseat for a semicircular insulating block 145. The switch bar 14.4 isprovided with an extension which passes through an opening formed in theside of the casing and of such a diameter as not to contact with theextension of the said switch bar.

Secured to the extension outside of the casing is a lever composed offiber or other insulating material. The outer end of the lever isconnected by a link to an arm of the clutch lever.

Secured to the base block is an insulating strip to which secured aseries of electrical contacts 151 to 162 inclusive, the free ends ofsaid contacts bearing normally, while the loom is running, on themetallic portion of the switch bar 144.

As shown in Fig. 5, the contact 151 is connected by a conductor 171 toone side of the coil of the automatic clutch release unit 117, theopposite side of said coil being connected by a conductor 170 to oneside 169 of a main electric circuit, in the present instance a circuitconnected to the secondary winding of a suitable transformer 168. Thesecond side 167 of the secondary circuit coming from the transformer 168is preferably grounded on the frame of the loom, for purposeshereinafter noted, whereby all the metallic elements of the loom nototherwise insulated form the one side 167 of the secondary circuit ofthe transformer.

. ing block 145 into contact with each and all of the electric contacts151 to 162 of the master switch 140.

The side 169 of the secondary circuit of the transformer 168 isconnected to one side of each of a series of signal devices, which forpurposes of illustration are hereinafter referred to as lights a to Zinclusive, as illustrated in Fig. 5. The second side of the signal orpilot light a is connected by a conductor 166 directly to the frame ofthe machine, forming the second side 16'? of the circuit, whereby thelight a, which is preferably colored, for example green, burnsconstantly, indicating to the weaver that current is flowing through thesecondary circuit of the transformer to the various detector mechanisms.

In event of the grippers 56 failing to register properly with theoppositeends respectively of the tube frame disposed at position A,which will cause the grippers 56 to be held apart to a greater extentthan they would normally be when registering properly with a tube frame,the detector and switch shown in Figs. 3 and 4 will then becomeefiective.

The bell-crank lever 66 receives a constant rocking motion at the propertime for closing the The extreme end of the section a is held in contactwith the extreme inner end of the bore 65d of the head 651), by springs250, having one end secured to a lateral projection 251 of the head 65band the opposite end secured to a collar 252 on the section 65a of saidlink.

Secured to the head 65?) and projecting longitudinally of the section65a of said link 65 is an insulating bar 253, on the outer end of whichis secured a contact element 254 which is connected by the conductor1'76 with the contact element 156 of the master switch 140, and througha conductor 1765 to the signal light f.

If for any reason the jaws 56 fails to move to their regular grippingposition the lever 64 is stopped in its swinging about its pivot by suchjamming of the jaws 56. The jamming cf the jaws 56, 56 arrests thelongitudinal movementof the section 655 of the link 65, the section 65aof said link, however, continues to move, by reason of the uniformrocking motion of the bellcrank lever 66, and such relative movement between the sections 65a and 65b of the link 65 causes the collar 255 onthe section 65a to engage the contact element 254, whereby the circuitthrough the conductor 176 and master switch 140 is closed, which effectsoperation of the automatic clutch release unit 117 for immediatelystopping the loom, the signal light f at the same time indicating thesource of the trouble.

Upon referring to the electric diagram shown in Fig. 5, it will beobvious that when current is caused to flow through the conductor 1'76,such current will flow through the contact element 156 of the masterswitch 140 to which the conductor is connected. The current will thenflow through the metallic portion 144 of the rotary contact element ofthe master switch 140 into the contact 151 of said master switch andthrough the coils of the automatic clutch release unit 117 which willremain energized as long as the particular detector circuit remainsclosed. Incidently the current will flow through all of the contacts 152to 162 of the master switch 140, by reason of their engagement with therotary contact element 144, which will cause all of the signal lights 5to Z to be lighted.

In order to cut out the signal lights that are not desired, leavinglighted only that signal light which is indicating the source of thetrouble, and to aifect deenergization of the coils of the automaticclutch release unit 117 the rotary switch element 144145 is rotated,immediately upon release of the clutch, to bring the insulating portion145 of said rotary switch element into contact with all the contacts 151to 162 inclusive, whereby the coils of the unit 117 are deenergized andthe current is shut on from all of the signal lights, excepting the oneincluded in the circuit of the detector which has been operated to stopthe loom, such light remaining lit as long as the detector switchconnected in series therewith, across the sides 167 and 169 of thesecondary circuit of the transformer 168, remains closed.

Correction of the trouble which has caused the stopping of the loom, andthe opening of the detector switch which indicated such trouble, againclears the circuit for subsequent operation of the loom, the loom againbeing started by manually moving the clutch shift rod for engagementwith the unit 117.

While a pilot light a is shown in Fig. 5 to indicate the presence ofelectric energy in the circuits including the detector switches, thislight is not necessary to the functioning of the stop motion as a, wholeand may be eliminated when not desired. I

We claim:

1. In a stop motion for looms comprising a yarn spool supporting framedisposed at a predetermined station in the loom the combination of meansadapted to register with said frame for removal of said frame fromsaidstation, an electricallyoperable stop-efiecting device and means incircuit with said stop-effecting device and operable by saidframe-removing means for stopping the loom upon improper registration ofthe removing means with said frame. I

2. In a stop motion for looms comprising a yarn spool supporting framedisposed at a predetermined station in the loom, means adapted toregister with and grip said frame for removal of said frame from .saidstation, means for effecting said removal including a longitudinallyoperable link having one end connected to a positively actuating.portion of the loom and its opposite end operatively connected to saidgripping means, an electrically-operable stop-efiecting device, and aswitch in circuit with said device and operable byisaiclilinkfor'stopping the loom upon improper registration of the gripping meanswith said frame. I

3. In astop motion for looms comprisingagyar spool supporting framedisposed at a predetermined station on said loom, meansadapted toregister with and grip said jframe for removal of the frame from saidstation, means for effecting said gripping including a :link having oneend rigidly connected to a positively operating part w g es of the loommechanism and its opposite end .telescopica-lly connected to saidgripping means, and a switch associated with said telescopicallyconnected end of said link for stopping said loom upon relativelongitudinal movement between the opposite ends of the link produced byimproper registration of the gripping means with said frame. a

4. In a stop motion for looms comprising a yarn spool supporting framedisposed at a predetermined station on said loom, means adapted toregister with and grip said frame for removal of theframe from saidstation, means for effecting said gripping including a link having oneend rigidly connected to a positively operating part of the loommechanism, a head operatively connected to said gripping means and inwhich the opposite end of said link is slidably mounted, means forlimiting movement of the one end of the link in one direction relativeto said head, resilient means normally maintaining said link in contactwith said limiting means and a switch having :relatively movableportions respectively carried by said link and said head for effectingstopping of the loom upon relative longitudinal movement between :saidhead and said link by which said switch parts are moved relatively toeffect said stopping.

MONTGOMERY B. PENMAN. HARRISBURG TRUST COMPANY, .By EDWIN KEISTER,

Vice President and Trust Officer, Executor -o the Estate of Alfred F.McCoZZum.

